Utilizing heat for the development of power.



F. SHUMAN.

UTILIZING HEAT FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF POWER. APPLIOATION FILED JULY 20, 1907.

1,002,768. Patented Sept. 5,1911.

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UTILIZING HEAT r03 'rnn nnvnnorirnm' or rowan Specification of Letters Patent;

Patented Sept. 5, 1911.

Application fled my 20, 1907. Serial No. 884,722.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, FRANK SHUMAN, a citizen of the United States, residing in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, have invented certain Improvements in Utilizing Heat for the Development of Power, of" which the following is a specification.

My invention consists of-an improvement in that method of generating power which consists in vaporizlng a; power-developing agent, having a relatively low boiling point, by means of the waste heat of compresslon, or of furnaces, or by'a heating agent of relatively low temperature, such as the rays of the sun, the object of my invention being to effect the carrying out of such process in a more practicable and economical manner than any theretofore devised and with which I am familiar.-

The accompanying drawing shows, in a diagrammatic way, apparatus for carrying out my invention.

The essential feature of my invention con.-. sists in employing, as a power-developing agent, a compound consisting of an element boiling point combined or charged wit an element having a lower boiling point. This compound will hereinafter be referred to as strong liquor and may consist of any elements having the properties named and capable of being combined for use in the manner described. As instances of such compound I may mention a compound of ammonia gas and water or of ether and lubricating oil. The strong liquor thus constituted is subjected to the action of the heating agent, whereby ahigh perecentage of they element having a low boiling point will be vaporized or otherwise freed, under pressure, from the compound, the remaining portion of the latter, consisting of the element having a high boiling point and the remaining small percentage of the element having a low boiling point being termed weak liquor. Vapor or gas under pressure thus produced is employed in any suitable engine for the development of power, and on being exhausted therefrom is mixed with the weakv liquor, which has meantime been reduced in temperature to such an extent that it will not only condense the exhaust vapor but will absorb the same and thus be restored to its ori 'nal condition of strong liquor, which can e returned to the generator for revaporization, being, by preference, on the way, subjected to the action of the weak liquor flowing from the condenser to the cooler so as to absorb heat therefrom preparatory to entering the generator.

In the drawing, 1 represents the generator or means for imparting heat to the strong liquor, the generator which I have selected for purpose of illustration being a solar heat absorber and having, at the top, a valved pipe 2 which serves to convey the vapor or gas under pressure fromthe generator to an engine 3 of any suitable character in which such pressure is utilized, the exhaust from the engine being efl'ected through a valved pipe 4, which is coiled within a vessel 5 having a valved inlet pipe 6 and overflow pipe 7, so as to provide for the passage through said vessel of water or other cooling agent, the coil terminating in a valved pipe 9 which feeds a pump 10 driven by the engine 3, or in any other suitable'manner, the valved discharge pipe 11 r of said pump communicating with the upper end of the generator 1. That portion of the pipe 11 between the pump andthe generator is inclosed in a casing 12 and the upper end of the latter is in communication through a valved pipe 13 with the lower end of'the generator, the lower end of the casing communicating through a valved pipe 14 with a coil 15 contained in a vessel 16, havlng valved inlet and outlet pipes 17 and 19, so as to provide for a flow of cooling fluid through the same, the coil 15 terminating in a valved pipe 20 which discharges into the exhaust pipe 4 of the engine.

That element of the strong liquor having the low boiling point, on being subjected to heat in the generator 1, is vaporized or otherwise separated from the element having the higher boiling point, vapor or gas under pressure thereby produced then passing to the engine 3, and any exhaust from the latter being brought into contact with the weak liquor derived from the lower portion of the generator, this hot weak liquor being first cooled by contact with the feed ,pipe 11, whereby the strong liquor is fed into the upper portion of the generator, the weak liquor being in contact with this pipe during its flow through the heat exchanger 12 and being thereby not only partially cooled but also serving to increase the temperature of the cold strong liquor before the latter enters the upper portion of the generator. After leaving the heat exchanger the weak liquor v is further cooled in traversing the coil 15 and in its weak and cold state is mixed with the vapor exhausted from the engine, the

mixture being subjected to the cooling influence of the agent in .the vessel 5, before flowing to the pump 10. Reduction of the temperature of the weak liquor causes it to absorb thevapor or gas exhausted from the engine, sothat it is now in condition to return, as strong liquor, to the generator for revaporization.

By reason ofmy invention I am enabled to generate vapor or gas under high pressure with less danger than if anagent having'a low boiling point, such as ammonia or sulfurous acid, was used alone, the greater safety being due to the fact that the very ployment of large volumes of such element.

One of the particular advantages of my invention, however, arises from the fact that by the introduction of the coldweak liquor into the exhaust pipe of the engine, this cold weak liquor cooperates with the cooling agent in the vessel 5 to efi'ect condensation of the exhaust vapor, and said condensation is thereby greatly facilitated, with the accompanying advantage of reduction of back pressure in theengine, whereas, if the conenser alone was relied upon, the vapor or gas of the engine exhaust would not be condensed to liquid form by the use of condensing water at ordinary temperature except under a high back' pressure.

' I claim The mode herein described of utilizing heat for the production of power, said mode consisting in subjecting to the heat a compound containin two elements, one of which has a higher boiling point than the other, thereby vaporizing or otherwise freeing from the compound, under pressure, the element having the lower boihng point, utilizing the vapor under pressure as a motive power fluid, absorbing the exhaust vapor by means of a cooler supply of the element having the higher boiling point, returning the resulting liquid to 'the heater, and sub jecting it, during such return, to the action of a heated body of the element having thehigher boiling point while the latter is on its Way from the vaporizer to a cooler for subsequent admixture with a fresh supply of the exhaust vapor.

In testimony whereof, I have signed my I name to this specification, in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

FRANK SHUMAN.

Witnesses:

LOUIS E. WELSH, E. P. HAINES. 

